Women’s Agency in the Mining Frontier: Inclusive Civil Society Strategies for Environmental Justice in South Kalimantan

Abstract

This study examines women’s agency in mining-affected communities in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, focusing on how women negotiate environmental change and develop collective responses within a masculinized extractive context. Drawing on Feminist Political Ecology and Kabeer’s theory of women’s agency, the study employed a qualitative case study in Banjar Regency, Tapin Regency, and Banjarmasin City. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis with 20 participants: 12 women from mining-affected communities, five civil society representatives, and three actors from public institutions, academia, or community initiatives. Data were analyzed thematically through iterative coding and theoretical interpretation. The findings show that women’s agency emerges through environmental meaning-making, livelihood adaptation, care practices, and kinship-based solidarity. Economic dependence on mining constrains women’s capacity for overt resistance, while gendered decision-making structures limit their participation in environmental governance. Nevertheless, everyday care and mutual support generate relational resources that strengthen collective agency. The study also identifies civil society as an institutional bridge that translates women’s situated ecological knowledge and localized solidarity into broader environmental advocacy. It argues that environmental justice is inherently gendered and that strengthening women’s agency requires gender-responsive civil society and environmental governance.